A warm fall evening along the Delaware River. A crew from the Belvidere & Delaware River Railway performs some line-side service on their Locomotive #142, not far from the I-78 Twin Bridges, on a warm fall evening back in 2011. The locomotive and train were performing on a Lerro Productions Charter for about 30 photographers.
Astute observers will instantly recognize that NYSW 142 is a Chinese SY Mikado, built by the Tangshan Locomotive Works in 1989, for The Valley Railroad Company, in Essex, CT. It ran excursions on that line as #1647, until 1992, when an interesting set of circumstances precipitated a sale. The New York Susquehanna & Western Railway, based in Cooperstown, NY, had purchased a new SY of their own, and were awaiting delivery.....when they found out that the ship that was transporting their new engine had sunk. What are the odds of that? The railroad then approached the Valley Railroad and negotiated a successful purchase of their existing SY, for use in excursion service on their network. The locomotive was renumbered 142 and was given an NYSW livery. In 2004, the locomotive was brought to Phillipsburg, NJ in 2004 and put into regular tourist excursion service along the Delaware River on the line from Phillipsburg to Carpentersville. These excursions are operated by the New York, Susquehanna & Western Technical Society under the name Belvidere & Delaware River Railway.
